Thousands at risk from 'inadequate' childminders, warns Government watchdog

By STEVE DOUGHTY

Last updated at 10:44 29 August 2007

Tens of thousands of children are at risk of neglect or ill-treatment by nurseries and childminders, a Government watchdog said yesterday.

A report from Ofsted found that around 20,000 children are left with "inadequate" carers whose failings include leaving babies to cry alone and letting children go hungry for hours.

A further 125,000 are left in merely "satisfactory" conditions which have scope for improvement.

Ofsted found that standards are declining across the board in an industry which has rapidly sprung up to look after children while their parents are at work.

Social researcher Patricia Hewitt, author of an influential study of childcare, said that informal childminding arrangements were a particular worry.

"In nurseries, staff watch other staff," she said. "That is not the case with a childminder. I have heard stories of children left in the care of 12-year-olds, children not fed, children left in the sun to burn.

"But the drive is on for mothers to work and mothers want to find cheap places to put their children."

The report comes at a time when more than half of all mothers of children under five go out to work - leaving half a million children in daycare.

Labour's policy of providing incentives to get women back to work after having children has caused a huge expansion in daycare provision.

Gordon Brown's £16 billion-a-year tax credit system has also contributed to rising numbers of nurseries and childminders by giving out large sums of money for mothers to spend on nurseries and childminders.

The watchdog's report checked 27,200 nurseries, creches and childminders - estimated between them to care for half a million children each day.

It found that 4 per cent - which look after around 20,000 children - were inadequate. Inspectors said some places had too few toys and activities for those in their care.

In one, they found "children were not learning the difference between right and wrong or acceptable ways to behave because adults had a poor understanding of behaviour management". They also found a nursery where "the adults did not have control over the toddlers".

The report said that in one case a parent complained a nursery staff member tried to take a child home without permission.

One in 12 workplace creches was judged inadequate, as well as one in 14 of the 'extended schools' which take an increasing number of children before and after school hours.

The number of nurseries and childminders considered better than satisfactory dropped from 61 per cent to 57 per cent, meaning that 125,000 children are in settings in which inspectors believe there is "scope for improvement".

The drop in standards among childminders was even greater, with the number rated better than satisfactory dropping from 64 per cent last year to 58 per cent.

Ofsted concluded this was related to the "relatively large proportion of childminders who were newly registered and so had less experience".

Researcher Miss Hewitt added: "Most childminders are women who look after other people's children so they can afford to stay at home and look after their own. "They are not really interested in other people's children."

However, Ofsted's chief inspector Christine Gilbert said there had been "many improvements".

Children's Minister Beverley Hughes added: "Only 4 per cent of childcare settings were found to be inadequate - a very small proportion. Ofsted will work with providers to help them to improve, but will also take the necessary action to ensure the best results for children."

Children as young as four are being suspended from infant schools for attacks on teachers, it emerged yesterday. Figures from Leicestershire County Council showed four children under five were suspended last year for attacks on adults, while one five-year-old was expelled for "sexual misconduct".

Carer Who Bit a Baby

Geraldine Rama was struck off the childcare register for biting a baby boy in her care.

Rama, from Hammersmith in West London, began looking after ten-month-old Michael Omisore in 2003 after meeting his parents Abiodun and Yvonne through their local church.

The couple first suspected she was mistreating their son when Mrs Omisore spotted a red mark on Michael while bathing him.

Tests showed he had been bitten with "considerable force" and that both his legs were broken.

Unfortunately for the couple, social workers assumed they had hurt their son and Michael was put on the "at risk" register for three months.

The Omisores' ordeal only ended when a judge gave Rama a six-month suspended prison sentence after she admitted assault.